The VT Qualifier last weekend was the first time this season where it felt like the whole gang shifted into the right gear, nailed the RPMs, and gunned the engines. This week it was all about keeping it pinned, as we kept most sessions short and the intervals fast and furious. In large part, good results and skiing continued with our most consistent weekend of racing and best showing top speed and depth alike.
We were also absolutely dialed with skis and support which was critical. The biggest thanks of this goes out to Dan Clayton for his AWESOME trailer. This thing is big enough to fit the MNC trailer inside twice-over, if we ever wanted to operate in Death Star mode…but in all seriousness, it’s amazing what a heated indoor space will do for both the quality of the skis produced and the longevity of coach fingers and toes. As we were cleaning up around 4pm on Sunday, Sara and I both remarked how much more energy and positive attitude we had compared to most post-race Sundays packing up ski tables at sunset. A big part of this was being warm during the combined many hours spent hunched over the wax bench. The other big part was the fact that we had a big staff and were able to get out and be on the course, in the moment, for the skiers during their races. It even helps me give a bit more detail on how everyone raced since we got to see it happen firsthand!
Saturday, 5/10km Freestyle
Rose, joining the ranks of #BlizGang?
The women’s race featured U16 and Open skiers all in the same race. This was also combined with the 2nd day of the Middlebury Carnival…a great chance for some to see how they stacked up against the college skiers at schools they’re either attending or looking at applying to! Ava led the way with an incredible 28th place overall finish. That equaled a commanding win for U16s, and a result that would’ve put her 20th overall in the college race!
This was also a great opportunity for the older girls to lower their points in the U18 rankings, and while some nearby competitors had stronger racers, others ranked higher found themselves behind some speedy Pugs. Rose had a competitive race in a day with tight times…30 seconds was worth 20 places! Close behind her were Sammie and Ali, 10 and 12 seconds back, respectively.
Not far behind that was “Zesty Esty” Cuneo, who took some big names out there. It was pretty impressive to watch her tempo even on the third cloverleaf section of the course, 3.5km into the race.Hanna continued her streak of strong races to 3 in a row after last week’s impressive classic and skate qualifiers. She caught a lot of girls in front of her and really took the last downhill with aggression. Speaking of aggression, U14 skier Greta Kilburn hop-skated like you wouldn’t believe to crush the competition on the steepest hills! It was also Mackenzie’s first race as an MNC skier, rocking the Pug!
Brook with yet another strong race!
The men’s race was two tough laps, meaning you had to hold your form through the notorious Rikert S-Turns even after a full 5km of sending it. Things were all looking good for Tim Cobb to go big in one of his premiere events, and he made good on the day with an excellent points race, holding 8th for U18s on both laps. He said it “hurt the whole time, but just had to do it”. That’s kinda what it’s all about. Brook also continued a great season surprising a lot of competitors who may not have heard of him before…15th for U18s! The biggest bummer came when Eli, in the midst of a great race, flew off course and hit his head pretty badly. He felt ok to start on Sunday but decided that things were still not quite right so we’ll need to get more updates on that as the week progresses 🙁
The final event, late in the day, was the U16 men. After a week of sickness and nearly no training, Aidan wasn’t quite feeling up to it but a little pre-race motivation to just go for it and have a strong attitude paid off. He started conservatively but had a great last third of the race to pull ahead of arch-rival Trey Jones by a scant .2 seconds. Even more impressive considering Trey started 30 seconds behind and had the benefit of chasing Aidan’s splits the whole race. But in the end it was Matthias who took the win, which was well-deserved and shows a pretty strong relay team potential for JNs in a few weeks. More great races by Ford Sayre friends (from Thanksgiving Camp) Sam and Jack have them in great spots to head to Anchorage too!
Sunday, 5/10/15km Classic Mass Start
Mass start classic races are the most intense races for coaches…a bunch of skis to get done ALL AT ONCE and a bunch of skiers to handle (broken poles, feeds for longer races, keeping track of place and time back from important competitors…). We had 5 staff on-hand, a big warm trailer with 3 waxing stations, and things went great in most every way possible. We were able to test and re-test and few key wax decisions and had some great skis for the early races. Later on, I think things evened-out as people caught up to what the snow was reacting to, but we were definitely “ahead of the curve” early on and that allowed us to keep focused on making good adjustments and feedback from individuals.
The first race was the U16 women’s 5km. Ava and Hanna were set to make their mark, and right from the first climb Ava just skied away from the field. Her plan going in was “ski from the front like it was an individual-start” and she didn’t hold back. She outkicked them on the uphills, and used her always-aggressive downhill abilities to put on the most impressive display yet. The best moment? She skied up the last hill into the finish completely alone, with nobody else in sight. Ava is usually pretty laser-focused in a race, with that glare of utter concentration. But when I yelled “they aren’t even out of the woods yet!” to her, she turned to me and gave a big smile, which in turn made me laugh too. What a race!
A happy moment for skier and coach!
The bummer from this race was Hanna going off the trail, much like Eli the day prior. She had been right in a group at 15th place but had to fight back bravely from last place. There’s a point in the course where you look right by the main start/finish area and it would’ve been an easy move to call it there and not finish the race, but Hanna dug in and skied hard!
The women’s 10km came up next, the race with the most Pugs and the chance to battle closer to the front without a gigantic combined Supertour or college race. Playing to all of her strengths, it was Ali who came out of the gate quick, avoided a few early crashes, and punched her best race yet this season. 18th overall, in a race that was not only indicative of speed and power but also ski agility and tactics. Ali came back to the trailer looking to get some wax taken OFF her skis to make them faster…she moved up on every downhill and rolling section, and skied relaxed and kicked easily to maintain her energy and place on the climbs. Really great to see some of those things we work so much on during the summer and fall pay off!
Not far behind were Rose and Meredith, who skied back-and-forth much of the race and finished just ahead of a large grouping of SLU and Williams skiers. Julia had a big rebound after a tough skate race, and Lily put down her strongest race of the year in a great aggressive effort. Lily has shown that kind of aggression in intervals and training throughout the year but this is one of the first times that confidence and assertiveness has really been totally there in a race and it was super cool to see.
The real rough race was for, Jenny through pretty much no fault of her own. Something happened with the binder on her skis and it seemed like the wax just wouldn’t hold onto the base; a lot of double-poling on a modern course that’s made for striding, and we’re past the “character-building” part of the season so it’s extra tough to see that happen…really great work to gut it out and basically double pole for 8km: the upper body power did look serious!
Pug pack! Sammie and Lily charging uphill
In the open men’s race, 3 laps made for a long race! Gatorade feeds were on hand and the sun continued to shine, but the awesome grooming and solid tracks held up no problem. The race of the day went to Charles, who skied smooth and strong to gradually move up and keep his spot each lap. He captured top-15 for the U18 field and showed again that he’s a force when he is on his game. The longer and more technical the course, the better! Brook earned big-time pace points for starting out smooth and doing nothing but pass racers the whole time. As he put it, “it was the first 15km I didn’t hit the wall in”. For Timmy, it was a valiant effort to get out fast and be near the front, and a move he had to make. It cost a lot of energy though, and it showed throughout the 2nd half of the race. Eli was feeling the effects of the crash the day before and tried to keep it contained.
Every weekend involves sitting down (or driving home) with a lot to process. This weekend, there was a lot of processing positives. A lot of remembering good moments of strong skiing and getting excited for more of it during the last Eastern Cup weekend and beyond. February is a good time to be hitting your stride.
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